The Stealth Spearfisher

Your success as a spearfisher will depend on many factors: knowledge of your prey and its habits, proper equipment and its use, and being in the right place at the right time. But no one factor may be as important as your ability with stealth. You must be invisible to your prey. Or to at least appear not to be a threat. Here are some general tips to help you become a stealth hunter.

Choose the right colors: Your wetsuit should be blue or black, without any colorful trim. No logos, no piping, just a flat blue or black. Some hunters will choose a camouflage pattern that blends with kelp. Remember that mask, fins, and other accessories also need to be neutral and flat in color.

No noise, not even the tiniest bubble: Scuba is out. Free diving only. But even free diving gear can be very noisy. Poke holes in the tips of your boots so air will drain as you submerge. Spit that snorkel. Again, a random tiny bubble, breaking free at just the wrong moment can alert the fish as to your presence. Straps can also squeak. Lubricate them. Make sure lead bricks are not banging together, or any other metal parts and accessories for that matter. Use a more quiet wood speargun. Attention to details is important. How you get into the water and behave on the surface is also important in keeping the noise level down.

Smooth, fluid movements: Underwater, move as you, yourself, were a fish. Jerky motions will send signals of danger. Keep your fin flicks soft and speargun movements steady.

Hide: Use natural underwater features to your advantage. The best place to hide is in a school of bait fish. Your prey fish, always hungry, will be focusing on eating, not on you. Using kelp for cover is also a good strategy, especially on descent. Follow a thick kelp stalk down to the bottom, then hover close to the bottom. Rarely do game fish expect an attack from below or the side. Defensively, they are usually looking up. You can also, however, hide on the surface. Kelp is again helpful, but so is rough water. The choppy surface will obscure your outline. If possible, hug a reef that protrudes from the water. The dark reef and accompanying rough water makes it tough for the fish to make you out.

Don't stink: It's difficult to say just how important this is, but a recent study caught my eye. It seems surfers attacked by sharks shared one profound fact in common: they had just urinated in their wetsuit. The sense of smell in fish is known to be very keen. Why risk spooking your game with cologne, hair gel, a smelly wetsuit, or urine?

Don't look at your prey: This one is the hardest to believe, but once I tried it I was sold. Fish, and perhaps all higher animals, have a profound sense of when they are being watched, especially in a predatory way. Your mask makes your eyes appear especially large, so this becomes a real issue. Try to scope out your prey with sideway stare until the last possible moment.

You can be in the right place, at the right time, and have just the right speargun, but if you spook your prey, you'll never bag that prize game fish you've been wishing for. You've got to become invisible in the water. Stealth is critical.